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Humble prayers to support good government
I should say at the outset that I consider myself to be basically apolitical. While I am conscientious about voting and definitely have opinions about issues, I don’t follow politics in the media or listen to commentary, except for what I see on the news. For the past few months, I have found myself watching in dismay as the United States government has become more and more polarized and less and less effective. In the past I had prayed to support wisdom and effectiveness in government, but had not felt particularly satisfied with the results.
Then, earlier this fall, I became ill. Although I was able to get done what I needed to do each day, I was not able to eat. I prayed to see more clearly my spiritual identity as an idea of God, insisting that my nature is pure and perfect, not vulnerable to invasion from outside influences, but having every function governed by divine Mind. I prayed to know that I was always held in divine Love’s care and that nothing could keep me from feeling that care every moment. I began to feel better, but was still not 100 percent.
During this time, I heard a lot of reports about the US government shutdown and potential default on the national debt. At one point, I decided that I was going to quit listening to any discussion of the situation in the media and simply pray about it until there was some progress made. Although I was not sure what effect my prayers would have, since I was just one individual and very far removed from the politicians and others involved, I felt impelled to do this. A phrase from Isaiah, “The government shall be upon his shoulder” (9:6), was the first idea that came to me. This prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah reassured me: if government is on the shoulders of the Divine, then it would have to be safe and effective.
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About the author
Sharon Wootton lives in Dallas, Texas.
